2008 Detroit Auto Show - Steve and Thom Wrap-Up

STEVE: It’s now easy being green, despite Kermit’s refrain.
In fact, being green is nearly required of any company seriously competing
in the mass automobile market, and most of the specialty markets. Green
cars, crossovers, SUVs and light trucks at the 2008 North American
International Auto Show in the Motor City are everywhere. Even Ferrari
presented a biofuel capable sports car.

In spite of the Green Glare and H2 haze, we
found no shortage, however, of the traditional muscle, performance and
wretched excess vehicles we love so much.

THOM: This greenness is somewhat disingenuous. Diesel, E85, electric,
all have infrastructure problems like where’s the E85 pump anywhere
but Iowa and Illinois. Electricity is great — as long as you get it
at night when power plants throttle down or blow up, and diesel, bio-diesel
anyway, is unobtaium if you value your new car or truck warranty.

And forgive me, but putting D85 capability on a Ferrari is like a beauty
mark on Tara Banks; interesting, $150, and superfluous.

STEVE: But that’s not to say that the industry’s new
offerings are boring. Quite the contrary. There is nearly as much
excitement and intrigue as ever in this, one of the world’s most
important motor shows. TheAutoChannel.com’s intrepid team of
reporters spent long, grueling, intense days immersed in the show and
exploring every nook and cranny looking for the news.

We’ll walk you around the floor and point out the highlights
– the best and worst, hottest and most tepid, the important and the
superfluous. We’ve both been covering the show for longer than we
care to admit. We’ve had our cargasms and our chills-up-the-spine as
well as grand disappointments while browsing the expansive, but jam-packed
floor at Detroit’s Cobo Center.

Starting with the corner closest to the icy Detroit River, the south
wall, we enter the hall to a disappointment. Porsche, traditional occupier
of the first space, did not attend this year. Apparently, they thought the
Midwest was not an important enough market to justify the cost of a major
display. We thought that to be an odd decision, since more national and
international media attend this show than any in the US and most in the
world – nearly 7,000 this year. BMW and VW didn’t mind, though
because they soaked up Porsche’s space grinning all the way.

THOM: Porsche was one of the first to point out that somewhere very
North of 10 trillion, yes TRILLION dollars are due to come into the hands
of all of us boomers. How odd that they think the Detroit and Mid-West has
no disposable income or self-indulgent grieving children.

STEVE: BMW, then, had more room to show the slick new 1-Series
cars including a just-out convertible. The buzz around the stand confirms
that BMW fans – driving enthusiasts for the most part –
can’t wait to get their fannies into the little car with the agility
of a gazelle.

Along with all the existing BMW stuff, the all-new X6 was
presented. This new crossover activity vehicle will be built alongside the
X5 and Z4 at the Spartanburg, SC plant.

Next door at MINI
the big news was a car they described as a modern iteration of a
“shooting brake,” an early 20th century term for station wagon.
This one, as you might guess, is just as retro and cool as the regular
MINI, just a bit longer with double cargo doors in the rear.

THOM: The 1 Series is pricy as BMW self-admittedly doesn’t really
know how to make “cheap” BMWs. Thus Mini, which if you know the
history must have a few more tricks up the sleeve other than the upcoming
SAV

Subaru originated the whole SAV/Crossover market with Forester; I wanted
something a little bit more stylish and aggressive. I also want the
Europe-only (so far) diesel engine.

STEVE: Subaru chose Detroit to preview the new-for-’09 Forester on
a new platform with “sport-sedan dynamics” including longer
wheel base. At dealers in the spring of this year the substantially updated
Forester can be had with a turbocharged and inter-cooled 2.5-liter boxer
4-cylinder making 244 horsepower.

STEVE: At Volkswagen most of
us were stunned by the new Passat CC 4-door coupe, expected to be in
production later this year. The styling is right out of the Mercedes CLK
book with swooping character lines rising toward the rear then falling off
into a tapered tail. Power comes from any one of two turbo-diesels or three
direct injection gasoline engines. Both inside and out it looks to be a
full measure upscale from the present Passat but the price is projected to be
just a few grand more.

THOM: The price for a Passat CC 4-door coupe 2WD 2-liter isn’t announced, but look for
it to hit squarely in the mid $20s. This is an astounding value in style
and grace. Surely the top-end model with V6 and AWD and who knows what
options will top $40,000, but at the base it is a gorgeous automobile with
room for your family.

STEVE: Making its North American debut is the chunky,
Suzuki Tonkaesque X-HEAD concept sport truck. Tall, narrow and stylish the stubby
truck has three configurations for different proposes: camping, rescue and
fashion. The is the concept that just reached out to me begging me to get
aboard and drive it through some rough stuff.

Across the isle Nissan introduced an out-on-the-edge concept of what a
next generation minivan might be, if that genre doesn’t go the way of
the station wagon. The aesthetic and design details say practicality with
beauty.

Finished in soft white and featuring innovative mechanicals it
might be the optimal way to transport the soccer kids and watch their game
sitting in the van with panoramic side door open and seats turned sideways.
Speakers are built into the back of the side door frames and a button on
the dash can interrupt all the headphones and speakers in the vehicle for
messages from the driver. Also gracing the Nissan booth is the awesome GT-R
super sports car we’ve all seen in the magazines. It’s even
more impressive in person.

Not much new at Infinity but those deluxe Japanese products are
uncompromised in luxury and performance. One new feature to be offered on
some is the 360-degree camera views. With four cameras, one at each corner
of the vehicle an image is projected onto the nav screen that gives that
full-around view. It is better than you might guess.

THOM: Nissan must bring discipline to bear on the minivan as we writers
provided the first and most enthusiastic endorsements of the Quest.
Admittedly they screwed up the user interface—the whole center stack
sloped in the wrong direction making use distracting and darn near
impossible.

Nissan's GT-R is simply a Porsche fighter and supercar contender - a
McLaren at 1/3 price?

STEVE: Audi gets my vote for the best
display. Looking up to the 30-foot-high ceiling of Cobo Center we see banks
and banks of lights that have been balanced remarkably well to illuminate
the large display of mostly silver display cars. Just a few colored lights
integrated into the mass added an extra visual element.

Audi also presented
plenty of hot cars, centered on the forward-looking R8 V12 TDI (turbo
diesel) super sports concept car. For both mechanical and styling ingenuity
it would be hard to top that one – zero-to-60 in just over 4 seconds,
top speed 186 mph, 500 horsepower, 738 pound-feet or torque . . .
smokin’!

Audi, as you may know, has been campaigning this diesel
engine in a race car with overwhelming success. Sharing the spotlight at
Audi is the new top-of-the-line TTS, a 272 horsepower screamer, enhancing
the revered, fun, TT line.

Among all the Teutonic admirables across the isle at Mercedes-Benz a
restyled SLK in red draws us in for a look at the other good stuff. The SLK
is updated in terms of style but more importantly is redesigned underneath
as well.

It comes in 2-liter compressor, 6-cylinder and AMG versions.More
mainstream are two all new compact SUVs called Vision GLK Townside and
Freeside. Fresh angular styling grace these two hints of future products
for Mercedes-Benz.

THOM: You knew Audi could make desirable automobiles and superior
interiors. But R8 in person makes most Pets and Centerfolds slovenly in
comparison. A big surprise, in some colors and lighting the new Mercedes-Benz C Class
looks frumpy. Not so the new SUVs which remind us of the stern countenance
of decade-old Willys Jeepster for its slab-uprightness.

STEVE: Back toward the center of the hall we can browse around the
Chrysler Corporation’s expansive displays. With three distinct brands
and dozens of models we can entertain ourselves for quite a while hopping
from one to the other. Let’s start with Dodge.

First, let’s talk about the intro of the new Ram pickup. Chrysler has
been known for dramatic and off-the-wall gimmicky press conferences and
this one was one of the best. With the press assembled on the cold
bleachers in front of Cobo Center a cadre of cowboys (and a couple of
cowgirls) drove 150 head of longhorn steers three blocks from Larned Street
to the Cobo Arena. In the center of the herd were two new Ram trucks.

I’m trying hard to avoid the obvious reference to bovine excrement or
the effluent from the north end of a southbound steer but the point about
the “all-new, bold, powerful, get-out-of-the-way Dodge Ram
design” was made. Ram is nicely updated, dressed up and re-featured.
Most surprising is their first-in-segment multilink solid axle rear
suspension with coil springs rather than the traditional leaf springs. As
tough? We’ll see.

Dodge also introduced a new small crossover called Journey. It looks to
be rather conventional and will be launched in a few months. We’ll
try to get an invitation to the launch so we can give you some details.

THOM: Which may be the least impressively styled Chrysler in recent
memory; where is Tom Gale when needed. However, at its sub-$20,000 price
point can there be much style? Tom always told me that great design costs
less than mediocrity, and sold better. The interior is far better, though
decidedly overly plasticy, and offers genuine comfort and innovations like
hidden compartments under the front seats.

STEVE: Jeep and Chrysler had little new to show.
Three concept cars – one from each brand – got lots of
attention. All three feature plug-in electric technology with each
exploring different back-up propulsion.

The Chrysler ecoVoyager Concept reminded me of the one-box shape of the
1930s Scarab with an elegant, aerodynamic shape embellished with subtle
character lines moving gracefully and interacting gently along the flank.
Huge chrome wheels pushed far out to the corners and a classically
boat-shaped tail contribute to a feel of timelessness. Power comes from a
plug-in electrical system with hydrogen fuel cell to extend the range. The
ecoVoyager, by the way, won the Eyes on Design Concept Truck of the Year
Award, the judging panel for which is composed of the most respected
designers in the world.

The Jeep Renegade Concept is a plug-in electric with a BLUETEC diesel
range extender. “Stylish Green” is the tag line for this one.
An open-air pure off-roader with cut-away doors and cut down windshield,
it’s not painted, rather the soft green no-gloss color is molded into
the body parts.

THOM: OK, I’ll say it, the Renegade is derivative of several other
Jeep concepts like Compass, and so screamingly feminine that even an Olive
Drab paint job can’t give it the testosterone it needs. Hummer
whipped ‘em.

STEVE: Finally, the rear-wheel-drive Dodge ZEO Concept is an entirely
electric “2+2” sports car with a claimed 250-mile range. Power
is from a 200 kilowatt (268 horsepower) single electric motor with a
zero-to-60 time of less than six seconds and a lithium-ion battery pack.
Bold and brash with radically extended fenders the four-scissor-door body
structure open forward for the front seats and rearward for the rear seats.
Interesting, but of course, impractical. These are, after all, concepts.

Before we get to the back of the hall we pass the tiny display of
the tiny “smart” car. (Forgive the lack of capital letters,
please.) The smart fortwo, imported by racer and businessman Roger Penske,
will begin arriving at dealers this month (January ’08). This is the
second generation smart redesigned for entry into the US market. To reserve
yours just give your dealer $99 and wait – probably for a long time
as the first 15,000 folks already in the queue get theirs. Check out my
recent review of the smart. I love it.

On the back wall is
perhaps the most vibrant collection of automobiles of one brand –
Toyota, of course. Now with successful vehicles in just about every
conceivable segment they’ve added one more, though they won’t
admit it.

Essentially a Camry station wagon with a bit more height called
Venza. More car-like than an SUV and more SUV-like than a car, so
it’s exactly what we have been calling a crossover, or CUV, for these
past many years. They call it a “sedan crossover” and insist
that it is a new segment. This one, I say, is much closer to what always
was a station wagon. Venza will replace the Solara in the Georgetown, KY
assembly plant and we can certainly expect it to be content rich. I think
it’s quite stylish and good lookin’.

But I don’t think
Thom agrees.

THOM: I can’t resist that bait, having described the previous
pre-Tundra concept as an overbaked potato. This Venza should have that much
style, but playing safe has never affected Toyota, or Honda for that
matter.

STEVE: On a nearby raised turntable spins the A-BAT
concept compact truck riding on a unibody platform. Almost infinitely
reconfigurable to hall bulky (but light) loads, including 4’X8’
materials, the A-BAT has lots of drawers, shelves, cubbies and pockets.
Positioned below Tacoma, it’s powered by a small 4-cylinder and
Toyota’s Synergy ™ hybrid system and has no significant towing
capability.

Lexus brought nothing entirely new to Detroit, though the eye-catcher in
their corner of the hall was certainly the sleek, red LF-A Roadster, a
500-horsepower, V10-powered super sports car concept. The “F”
designation on Lexus products stand for high performance.

This
was GM’s year. Not only did they show lots of new stuff, but what
they showed got lots of respect. Most auspicious, I think, was Cadillac. My
“Best of Show” and Eyes on Design award winner for Best Concept
Car is the striking Cadillac CTS Coupe Concept. No one had a hint of its
existence - one of the few times a car has had a debut here without at
least some leaks.

The CTS, just revised to rave reviews less than a year
ago, was skillfully massaged into a two-door coupe with intense, angular
lines diving into a dramatic boat tail rear. Instantly recognizable as a
Cadillac CTS this coupe shows what GM Design can do when led well. Cadillac
also showed the fresh CTS-V performance model with 550 horsepower –
which Bob Lutz calls “the fastest four-door sedan in the world - and
another angular concept called Provoq that hints at a new SRX.

Chevrolet presented the long awaited ZR1 Corvette, with carbon fiber
everywhere, a see-through hood and 620 horsepower. How they can manage that
much power in such a civilized sports car is beyond me. The classically
American Corvette is still the most high-performance sports car for the
money, in any of its iterations. Also at Chevy, the new Malibu, out for
just a few months now, won the honored North American Car of the Year award
just a year after its Saturn sibling, Aura, won the same award. Not bad,
eh? And Impala is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a special
edition.

THOM: Steve is correct, though I vacillate in thinking Provoq
ugly/thematic. Surely it has the new face, but side views are overly
chiseled. Elsewhere, just buy some GM stock and lobby your legislators to
intelligently (oops) apply logic to the way American’s use and buy
cars. FYI the “precipitous drop” in pickup trucks is only
3.5%.

STEVE: Hummer H1 is gone, as you probably know. Nothing else new at
Hummer except a particularly Jeepy concept called HX.

The story goes that
the design staff got three youngsters just out of design school and turned
them loose with minimal parameters. The result is a versatile, small,
reconfigurable, two-door off-roader high enough off the ground to straddle
a buffalo calf.

THOM: HX merits more than a footnote. It
absolutely out-Jeeps Jeep with openness, astounding ruggedness, and a
design that would bring true off roaders (at least those few who
don’t home-build) into the showroom. It would surely ignite showroom
traffic if a business case, i.e. profitability, could be reasonably made.

STEVE: The Buick stand seemed rather staid with competent but
uninspiring sedans, the popular Enclave CUV and a concept car first seen at
the Shanghai show last year. Look closely and you’ll see that this
Buick concept was “designed in China.” I guess we
shouldn’t be surprised since Buick now sells more cars in China than
in the home market.

Saturn has had some solid successes
lately - Car of the Year honors for Aura last year, a vastly improved Vue
and now a two-mode Vue Greenline Hybrid.

Presenting a concept called
Flextreme, the green folks at Saturn explore the GM E-Flex system
consisting of an electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery within a
sporty hatch-back hiding two Segway scooters in the back.

And, speaking of green projects, GM announced a partnership with an
Illinois company called Coskata, Inc. to produce ethanol from non-grain
sources, mostly waste products. The goal, touted by GM boss Rick Wagoner,
is to produce ethanol at less than $1/gallon using less than 1 gallon of
water per gallon of fuel produced. One unit of energy in will equal 7.7
units of energy out. Oh yea? We’ll keep an eye on that one.

The big news from the Koreans is the introduction of the Hyundai
flagship sedan called Genesis featuring rear-wheel drive, a 4.6-liter,
369-hp V8, 6-speed ZF transmission, sophisticated suspension and
surprisingly luxurious trim. Conservative but attractive styling, 8 airbags
and all the expected content will make Genesis a contender. Though prices
have not been officially announced we can expect it to be 15 t0 20% less
than its comparables.

Mitsubishi is still struggling to
come up with a strategy and some products to get back on its feet in the US
market. The Sports Car Concept on their stand – perhaps the next
Eclipse – continues the hints of a new Eclipse from previous similar
vehicle studies, this one with an intensely deep red paint. Beside it is a
soon-to-be-produced, super-fast, little rally racer to compete with
Subaru’s SRX. Looks like it might be a serious threat. Get that one
on a dirt road at full throttle. I dare you.

Now, how about Ford? Well, there’s good new and there’s bad
news. The good news is that we find some promising new products and
concepts in the corporate portfolio. The bad new is the stock price is so
low it may take more than that to get them off the skids.

At
Lincoln, the MKS is the new big Lincoln due later this year as an ’09
model. While many thought it a bit less than auspicious, I thought it quite
nice. Large enough and pretty enough to be a fresh new full luxury sedan,
we’ll see how it is priced and positioned in the market. MKS
exemplifies Lincoln’s bold new styling language. The MKT, a large and
lovely concept “ultimate touring vehicle,” uses lots of
recycled materials to make an elegant statement about pleasure on the
road.

THOM: MKS is a decidedly stylish car and possess a tasty intro-luxury
interior. It needs, however, an even more upscale interior to be sold as a
luxury contender. Or so said a dealer from Illinois who also sells Korean
cars that offer apparently similar interior features for much less.

Ford also said something very interesting, that Turbocharged Gas Direct
Injection (TGDI) can provide performance similar to diesel at a much lower
price point. Would you buy a 450 horsepower car with 450 pound-feet of
torque that got near-diesel mileage with only a $1000 (vs. $3000 diesel or
$6500 hybrid) price increase? Hell yes, and you’ll see that engine in
F150 in 2009.

STEVE: Ford protectorates, Jaguar and Land Rover are nearly sold to Tata
of India. At Jaguar nothing new, just the current Jaguar models reeking of
sensuality.

At Land Rover, the LRX concept crossover got a lot of positive buzz.
Stylistically modern, it keeps to Land Rover’s off-road heritage
adding sustainable transportation technologies and asks what if LR built a
compact premium off-road capable vehicle with turbo-diesel hybrid power.
Perhaps Tata can do it.

Mazda continues a series of
remarkable, far-out concept cars designed around a theme having to do with
a Japanese concept of “flow” called Nagare. This year’s
Taiki expressed that theme beautifully with flowing lines that insinuate
the wind. Another concept called Furai translates that design into racing
form. I’ll call them the most philosophical cars at the show.

Ford, as we all know, is slowly finding its way into the new automotive
world. With the redesign of the F-150 – the most popular vehicle in
the US market – Ford is showing that it is dedicated to staying ahead
of trends. With the GM competitors redesigned last year and the Dodge Ram
freshened for ’09, I think Ford was wise to do it now.

Also at Ford we saw the preproduction version of the boxy Flex. Nearly
as practical as a minivan but much more long and square, I’m
concerned about the styling becoming passť before its time. I’ll try
to wait judgment until we’ve has some seat time and a better look
later this spring.

Most promising at Ford is the beautiful
Verve Concept. This is a small car based on European designs that will be
in the US market in a few years. Brash styling and functional design stand
out.

A uni-body Explorer Concept, designed to take advantage of Ford’s
Ecoboost direct injection, turbocharged engine technology, also got lots of
attention.

Elsewhere around the floor we find a few independents.
One of the most noteworthy, Fisker, is a name we have not seen at NAIAS.
Their “environmentally friendly premium car” looks so graceful
that it might be a Maserati or an Aston concept but it’s a California
project of Quantum Technologies and Fisker Coachbuild, LLC.

With
cutting-edge plug-in hybrid propulsion it has just a little four-banger to
extend the claimed 50 mile range on electric only. In order to enhance the
car’s image they’ve added an acoustical function that
artificially makes big-engine sounds when driving in the “spirited
mode.” This one gets my award for “most silly
gadgetry.”

And finally, let’s talk about the Chinese.

Much ink has been spent
and much speculation bouncing about concerning if, when and how the Chinese
will become players in the US market. This is the third year we’ve
seen Chinese displays – first one (Geeley), then two and now five. I
must say, after attempting to speak with them all, I found only one with
even a rudimentary sense of what they are doing.

Chairman Li of Changfeng Motor attempted to give a speech in purely
phonetic English. The problem was that he was pronouncing the English words
in Chinese phonetics so we struggled to understand just 10% of his ideas.
Geeley seems to have moved backward.

And a company called Bei Jing Li Guang
Ming Automotive Design Co., Ltd presented a line of cartoon cars
you’d be embarrassed to drive on the golf course. I liked the names,
however – “A Piece of Cloud” and “The Book of
Songs.”

Appearing most ready for prime time is the Chamco Auto group who have
two vehicles, a small pickup and a small SUV that appeared well sorted out
and decently designed. Though underpowered by our standards they promise
prices 20% cheaper than anything in their segments, and they promise to be
bringing vehicle here by 4th quarter of ’08. We’ll see.

Watch this space throughout the year as Thom and Steve expand on these
cars and trucks one at a time.